Rare relics of an Iron Age warrior who fought the Romans

The helmet and crest of the Iron Age warrior. Photo Allan HutchingsPhotography

As the Novium in Chichester prepares to display the late Iron Age Bersted Warrior and his possessions in January 2020, we talk to archaeologist James Kenny about one of the most spectacular warrior burials ever found in Britain

When archaeologists arrived to investigate a grave discovery on the site of a new housing development near Chichester in West Sussex, they had little idea what was awaiting them.

A large scale archaeological excavation had been taking place ahead of the development in 2008 at North Bersted, and when the grave was uncovered Chichester District Council’s archaeologist, James Kenny, was one of the first people to view it.

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Iron Age warrior's remains to go on show in Chichester

The grave contained "significant" artefacts

Chichester District Council

The remains of an Iron Age warrior and his possessions - hailed as a "spectacular discovery" by archaeologists - are to go on display.

Weaponry and other artefacts were found alongside the ancient fighter during excavations at a site near Chichester, West Sussex.

It is thought the grave belonged to someone of high status.

The man, who may have fought alongside a Roman king, will be the centre-piece of an exhibition at a city museum.

A team from Thames Valley Archaeological Services found the grave on land at North Bersted, near Bognor Regis, in 2008.

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Grave of 'real-life Asterix' who fought Caesar found amid trove of weapons and possessions in West Sussex

'Unique find': the artefacts have been carefully studied for the last decade CREDIT: PA

The grave of a real-life Asterix containing what is believed to be an ancient Gallic warrior who came to Britain and fought Julius Caesar has been discovered, archaeologists have announced.

The unique and highly-elaborate resting place was found on a West Sussex building site.

The Iron Age warrior, buried with his glamorous and ornate head-dress, is thought to have been a refugee French Gallic fighter who fled Julius Caesar's legionnaires as they swept across continental Europe in about 50BC.

Archaeologists have described the discovery, which will go on display at Chichester's Novium Museum in January 2020, as "the most elaborately equipped warrior grave ever found in England".

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'Important' Iron Age settlement found at Warboys dig

Roman finds include this jug and human remains, including six skeletons
Oxford Archaeology East

Iron Age roundhouses, Roman burials and Saxon pottery have been discovered in a "hugely important and hitherto unknown settlement".

The seven month-long dig in Warboys in Cambridgeshire also uncovered "a rare example" of "early Saxon occupation mingled with the latest Roman remains".

Archaeologist Stephen Macaulay said: "We almost never find actual physical evidence of this."

The settlement reverted to agricultural use after the 7th Century.

"What makes this site really significant is we have evidence of early Saxon occupation mingled with the latest Roman remains," said Mr Macaulay, deputy regional manager for Oxford Archaeology East.

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ootball UK politics Environment Education Society Science Tech Global development Cities Obituaries Archaeology Mystery of Chedworth's 1,800-year-old Roman glass shard solved

The fragment from the Roman fish bottle, the only one of its type ever discovered in Britain. Photograph: National Trust/Rod Kirkpatrick/F Stop Press 

Find sheds fresh light on wealth and influence of ex-inhabitants of National Trust property
A fragment from a Roman bottle so exceptionally rare that it has taken glass experts from around the world two years to conclusively identify it has been discovered thousands of miles from where it was made.

The discovery at Chedworth Roman Villa in Gloucestershire of the small shard of patterned green glass, part of an 1,800-year-old fish bottle, has astonished archaeologists.

Nothing like it has ever been found in Britain. It would have been made in an area around the Black Sea in what is now Ukraine and was possibly used to hold exotic perfume.

For it to travel all the way from the Black Sea to the Cotswolds sheds new light on the wealth and influence of the people who occupied Chedworth, a National Trust property regarded as one of the grandest Roman villas in Britain.

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Pompeii row erupts between rival scientific factions

 Archaeologists at work in Pompeii. Volcanologists complain they have been barred from accessing certain areas of the world heritage site. Photograph: Cesare Abbate/AP

Volcanologists say excavations by archaeologists are destroying useful clues about lava flow
 
It is one of the most ambitious archaeological missions ever undertaken. The Great Pompeii Project promises remarkable discoveries about life in the Roman empire, including the genetic profiles of the town’s inhabitants, their dining preferences, occupations and health.

But as layers of volcanic rock are chipped away to uncover the secrets that lie below, not everyone is celebrating. Volcanologists say the excavation risks destroying clues about the AD79 eruption that could be crucial for protecting the 600,000 people who live in the shadow of Vesuvius today.

After years of simmering tensions, a row has broken out between the two scientific factions, and volcanologists published an open letter in the journal Nature this month criticising the “alarming” destruction of volcanic deposits.

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Travel back in time with the 'Google Maps' of Ancient Rome

Summer is now well-underway across Europe and many of us are planning our holiday escape with travel comparison websites and web mapping services.

Low-cost air carriers, fast trains, and cross-national motorways have made travelling across the Old Continent a quick and often cheap affair. But let's imagine that cars, trains and planes haven't been invented yet and that your options are limited to ox or mule cart and ships.

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Researchers at Stanford University have used modern technology to answer by creating a web mapping version of Ancient Rome.

Their model, called ORBIS, consists of 632 sites spread across 10 million square kilometres of terrestrial and maritime space, covering most of modern Western Europe and the Mediterranean coast in North Africa and the Middle East.

The tool generates solutions for travel between any two sites depending on specific means and mode of transport and the months of the year, providing different options based on time and expense.

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Ancient Roman port history unveiled

A team of international researchers led by La Trobe University and the University of Melbourne have, for the first time worldwide, applied marine geology techniques at an ancient harbour archaeological site to uncover ancient harbour technologies of the first centuries AD  [Credit: La Trobe University]

Researchers successfully reconstructed anthropic influences on sedimentation, including dredging and canal gates use, in the ancient harbour of Portus - a complex of harbour basins and canals that formed the hub of commerce in the capital of the Roman Empire.

The findings suggest that the Romans were proactively managing their river systems from earlier than previously thought - as early as the 2nd century AD.

The history was reconstructed using a range of high-resolution sediment analysis including piston coring, x-ray scanning, radiocarbon dating, magnetic and physical properties and mineral composition of the ancient harbour sediments.

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Roman coins 'may be linked to Boudiccan revolt'

 The coins dated between 153BC and AD61
Suffolk County Council

A hoard of Roman coins found in a field may have been hidden there during the Boudiccan revolt, an expert has said.

The trove of 60 denarii, dating between 153BC and AD60-61, was found in a field near Cookley, in Suffolk, by a metal detectorist.

Dr Anna Booth, who examined the find, said there "might be a link with the Boudiccan revolt" and the coins.

Queen Boudicca led the Iceni tribe against the Romans in AD61 which led to the destruction of Colchester.

Most of the coins dated from the Republic era, pre-27BC, but there were also denarii minted during the reigns of emperors Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula and Nero.

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Deux sols de mosaïque antiques au cœur de Poitiers

Située au nord-ouest de l’église Notre-Dame-la-Grande, la fouille se situe dans un secteur particulièrement sensible du point de vue archéologique compte-tenu de la densité importante des vestiges reconnus, notamment pour l’Antiquité. La surface de 230 m²  présente une grande densité de vestiges enchevêtrés et mobilise sept archéologues pendant sept semaines (du 11 juin au 26 juillet). Prescrite par la Drac Nouvelle-Aquitaine, cette fouille est mise en œuvre par la Communauté urbaine de Grand-Poitiers.

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Calstock Roman dig reveals 'unexpected' mine

Mine workings reveal the Romans were exploiting the mineral-rich area

UNIVERSITY OF EXETER

Archaeologists digging near a Roman fort in Cornwall have unearthed remains of a mine and a Roman road.

The discoveries were made during a new dig near a fort found at Calstock in 2007, one of only three such sites known in the county.

Experts will carry out further analysis of a previously-unknown series of deep pits, connected by arched tunnels.

Dig leader Dr Chris Smart, from the University of Exeter, said the mine was an "unexpected bonus".

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Roman road and possible mine discovered during Cornish dig

View of the possible mining pits looking north [Credit: University of Exeter]

Archaeologists have discovered a Roman road and possible ancient mine during excavations in Cornwall as they work to discover more about the history of the county.

Experts will carry out further analysis of the previously-unknown series of deep pits, which are connected by arched tunnels. It is likely to be yet another mine worked many hundreds of years ago when this area of South East Cornwall and West Devon was famed for having some of the richest mineral deposits in the world.

Archaeologists from the University of Exeter and local volunteers have been digging for the past month near to the site of a previously-found Roman fort at Calstock, in the Tamar Valley. This year’s excavation has focused on an area outside the fort’s west gate, which was at the front of the fort, originally facing hostile territory.

As well as the possible mine they have discovered a Roman road, which would have served regular military traffic in and out of the fort. The excavation has revealed a rare glimpse of timber-built Roman military buildings constructed outside of the fort, as well as a series of rubbish and cess pits, indicating that the Roman army was also active outside of the fort’s defences.

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